Pictures, and Excuses

So this blog pretty much sucks for 1st quarter 2010 (having just filed my tax returns) but I fully intend to fix that, starting tomorrow (so that I just can claim April fools and not write again until May, really).

I've been exceptionally busy at work, and cleaning up puppy poop, and trying not to let my A1c creep back up from the multiple pounds of chocolate I can't stop eating every week. Admittedly, I'm a lot better at World of Warcraft. I know, I know - shoot myself in the face. My twitter, facebook, blahblah, and other internet outlets have also petered out. That diabetes daily photo posting lasted about 3 days. So I'm going to pick back up here, first and foremost, concurrently with attempting to develop a regular workout routine. So I'll keep you posted on how that's going. I still haven't run any damn half marathons. I'm going to train Maisy to be my running partner. We went on two 3+mile runs that went pretty well, actually. About two weeks ago. So it's very much a work in progress.

I also am slowly building an arsenal of dinner recipes I can actually make besides Seebacher's Famous Marinara Sauce and pasta, and I can share the good ones if anyone's interested. I made one terrible awful potroast last week that was really, really bad, so I won't share that.

And just because these are horribly, horribly overdue (not to mention the fact that I haven't had time to take any decent pictures):
Everyone loves a Theme Party!!



My dress and shoes were TO DIE FOR, unfortunately I am a total noob at the art of taking photos of oneself.

Where Did that 3 weeks go?

Well, I still haven't painted or hung any art or gotten a coffee table, but I've shopped and found my washer and dryer of choice, and also a dining room lamp that works with the rest of the existing lights (all of which I really like) even though I haven't bought them, yet. I did get my kitchen rolling and come up with a really great low-carb spice cake cupcake recipe and the best buttercream frosting I've ever had in my life, and also started fermenting a gallon of apple wine. (Most exciting video ever, right??) So the house is getting to feel like home. I also installed a programmable thermostat, so I feel good about myself. And I got a bath mat with a penguin on it.

Anyway, I'm gearing up now to spend a weekend in the White Mountains in New Hampshire with the rest of my lab for a "work retreat". And I know what you're thinking. That is SO MEAN. I've not missed a homecoming at Dartmouth since I matriculated, and now I will be less than an hour from campus, but I can't go? Blasphemy. Although one of our number got a seat in the very exclusive Obama Speech on campus and has been excused for an extra 3/4 of a day. Maybe I can somehow incorporate it into Teambuilding Exercises. Its only an hour, and we had to drive up there anyway so there are certainly enough seats in cars. I'll keep you posted. At the very least, the cabin has a hot tub and wireless internet. So I can play WoW in my free time.

Two Things

I am home, safe and mostly sound, from Hamburg and I just wanted to throw this out there before I go to bed:

The Fish like their new tank (MIB saw that picture and was like "that tank is HUGE!" and I was like "but its exactly half the size of the old one...")

And the food in Deutschland rocks my face off.

Medical Necessity Dictates...

Erin is trying now to rebuild the bones in her elbow, after several weeks of physical therapy. The doctor says she needs a lot of calcium at every meal. I remember from my health-food-aspiring-vegan stint several years back that there is more than milk which contains a lot of calcium, so I googled it.

Calcium Content

We're thinking dinner tomorrow will be strawberry rhubarb pie with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. For dinner. My diabetes will just have to suck it up. SHE NEEDS THE CALCIUM.

Hidden in a email full of De-motivational Posters

You all should know by now how much I appreciate data and its presentation. While this looks more like a custard to me, its still brilliant! And it makes me smile.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Somebody had big Valentine's Day plans in New York City this weekend, but then he realized that my weekend rehearsal schedule meant we had to be in Boston on Valentine's Day. Obviously this is devastating because of Boston's inferior palate. So I thought perhaps I'd make a delicious meal for my darling gentleman, since he is the one usually cooking for me. And it was also my fault that his plans were ruined.

Around 7 pm on Saturday, after french toast breakfast in Connecticut, driving back to Boston, rehearsal, playing video games, touring MIT, renting movies, and generally goofing off, I decided I should probably start cooking. I was all set to go (with maybe a call or two to Mom for tips) and started collecting my ingredients. Much to my disappointment, I pulled out the ground beef I'd been saving to notice it was startlingly...brown. Even all the juice was brown (and this was one of those fancy vacuum-sealed packages. The sell-by-date was Feb 10th. Nix Meatloaf. Because I can think of nothing less romantic than spending Valentine's Day latenight on the toilet.

So, instead, this was dinner
World's Lamest Girlfriend award goes to...ME!

At least I sort of made up for it today by 1) having the day off and 2) unexpectedly walking right by a restaurant called Finale that I'd read about a few days earlier while looking for a place to eat lunch. It is mostly a bakery and dessert shop, but the sandwiches were delicious, even if we did wait 20 minutes for sandwiches that took 40 seconds to eat. I liken them to roller coasters, which I also love. The fruit & cream tart made me happy. That is all I can say. It was a happy tart. The creme brulee and chocolate decadence cake were also good.

[Edit] I forgot to mention that B and Paulie collaborated on dinner Sunday night to make the most delicious white bolognese with pasta and tomato/mozzarella/fresh basil appetizers I could ever imagine. They are awesome. And I napped the entire time they were cooking.

Breakfast Brilliance

Last week while I stayed at the boyfriend's awesome house in Westchester, we had a lovely bagel breakfast when the giant family arrived very early on Thanksgiving from the city to avoid traffic. We still managed to have quite a few leftover from the GARBAGE BAGS FULL of bagels that the family brought with them. The next morning, I was waking up and checking email in the kitchen when one of his sisters came downstairs to grab herself a bagel and she did the most amazing thing I've ever seen done with a bagel. Instead of two halves, she sliced the bagel into 3 slivers! So brilliant! So simple!

As a lover of cream cheese, as in, I used to eat the individual packets sold at Costco that my dad would stock his fridge with as snacks, this is 50% more surface area and is the perfect excuse to eat 50% more cream cheese with one bagel. Because I start to feel guilty when I pile more than about half an inch of cream cheese on one bagel slice. Also people tend to get upset when the entire container of cream cheese is gone, but more than half the bagels are still left.

No, I Don't Have Better Things To Do

I just don't feel like posting every day anymore. I sleep probably 60% of most days, and follow my boy around being a doting girlfriend 20% of the time, and the other 20% I split between eating, applying for more jobs, showering, my photo projects, and catching up on 30Rock, Prison Break, and The Office. Note that I am still not working out.

The one fun story I have for you today is that on Saturday, my mom called and woke me up at noon to tell me that she wanted to come up to Boston for dinner and to see my apartment. I was in Hanover. In 3 hours, I loaded the car, took some pictures at Shop Day (DFR), and convinced Paul to come down, too, and skip out on his frat basement for the night. Farmer John has wanted to try out the Hilltop Steakhouse and Butchershop since his Thanksgiving trip to Texas last year where it was recommended to him and his love for red meat. We made it happen, and they brought the kids, too.

It was awesome. I had a filet because I can't eat more than 8 oz. of anything except chocolate at a time and I don't eat red meat very often anymore. We also demolished two onion blossoms and a bunch of IBC Root Beer. The highlights were the placemats - exceptionally thorough cartoons of how and where to slice your cow, and driving the 30 minutes from my apartment with two of us stuffed in the back of the minivan on the floor with sleeping bags because my mother had removed some of the seats.

Then the kids spent the night, and I let them (and Paul) stay up until 2 am playing World of Warcraft because I'm a terrible babysitter. We woke up around 10, which is exactly when we needed to leave to meet my mother halfway - in Worcester - to drop off the kids before taking my College Student back to school to study for his exam (today). I am embarrassed to admit that I actually said the words "If we don't leave NOW, you won't get Starbucks!!". We didn't leave then but they still got their Starbucks (see today's Daily Photo), and because I am my mother's daughter, she was even later than we were.

Indulgence and Idiot Kittens

Two nights ago I was craving very badly some Lucky Charms. So yesterday morning I bought some, and ate about 3 bowls. I just finished the rest of the box 10 minutes ago. But first, Retard Momo Avatar Kitty (a.k.a. Yoyo, Nomo, Stupid) thought he needed some too, so he climbed up onto my computer and leaped INTO the bowl, spilling milk and Lucky Charms all over my lap.

Now my stomach hurts, I smell like sugary milk, and the kitten is locked in the basement. I'm not sure where the lesson learned is, here.

Old And Unemployed

Well, my job didn't pan out. We've been talking to different established companies that we could partner with for bits and pieces of the technology we need, and one very recently came through, rendering my internal engineering job useless. Its a bummer, but that was the risk I took in a start-up. On the upside, I FINALLY get to take a vacation. I'm going to go see Max. And maybe I'll go use the elliptical at my gym a few times instead of paying $72 a month just for emailed tips on how to live a better life by going to mock boot camp.

In other news, I had a birthday. I spent a few days in the Hamptons before going back to work on my actual birthday to be covered in rotten vegetables and poo-smell again at the job I would soon lose. I stayed with some friends of the boy's family (and the family) and hid indoors in their gorgeous glass house the whole time. I don't do well in the sun. The jetskiing was my favorite part. That, and the breakfast sandwiches. And the one day that my breakfast sandwich accidently got taken in the beach-bound car at 8 am, so the boy magically pulled together a giant plate of french toast out of leftover baguette.

And these? These are the sweetest shoes I've ever owned; a gift from the sweetest 19 year old I know. You know you're totally jealous.

The Rutabagas Made Me Do It

I'm just sayin'... Try it yourself and see what YOUR face looks like and what sort of crap YOU end up with on your head after an afternoon of bending over into a 90 gallon bucket of "compostables," which is really just a nice word for "rancid ass poo," with the very imminent possibility of swimming in it. I love my job.

Life is Hard

I've been terrible about posting, I know, I apologize. But you would be slacking on the internet, too, if you had an apartment to paint, clean, unpack, furnish, and organize AND a full-time job with a 30 minute commute when there is ZERO traffic. There is ALWAYS traffic on my way home; I've taken to Harry Potter books on tape. NPR is next. I'm sure you understand.

What have I been up to? Pretty much trying to put my apartment (and life) together here in Boston and get settled in my job. I had my review (The company tells me whether or not they want to hire me full time or just keep me for the summer) yesterday, so I've been pretty nervous about that. I also am still on the most-unhealthy college student sleeping schedule, since I never had a transition period. THIS is my transition period.

I am out of my apartment from 8 am until about 7 pm almost every day, then I try to relax for a little while before going on an unpacking or online-shopping frenzy. I don't clean very often. This is a point of frustration for my beloved roommate, B, but she isn't in much of a position to do anything about it as she not only works full time as well, but she is taking pre-med classes. And I've been traveling almost every weekend, or had more visitors than my tiny apartment can handle. At least I've been doing laundry. However, B is doing all the cooking, because I have somehow lost that ability. I finally made her a dinner last week; boxed mac & cheese and sliced hot dogs. I am a pro-chef.

This weekend past, however, I had one of the most relaxing weekends of my entire life. Which was good, considering my upcoming review. I drove out to NY state to hang by the pool (see pool, by lake, below) with my freshman and eat the food his wonderful parents cooked for us. Homemade breakfast sandwiches. Oh! And they have a giant treehouse, with a big rope swing. As for the job review - they decided that they don't want to decide, yet. I am extremely happy with this, because I have another month to prove that I CAN bring my A-game. Bring it on. I'm just sayin'.

This Is Why We're Friends

This isn't my story, but it has been a few days and this is really freaking good...

So a very dear friend of mine had an interview for a different position in the company she has already worked for for the last year. It also happened to be Free Pizza Day at the office.

She went to the interview, with a woman she already knows, right around the same time the pizza was delivered and the woman, knowing my friend, said to her "Do you want to reschedule this meeting for another time? I know how important free food is to you. ...No, really, it's fine. Are you sure you don't want to meet later?"

You know you're addicted to food when your potential future boss KNOWS that you're addicted to food. Especially free food.

Best Meal Of My Life

This was the sign over the door of a charming little eatery at which I had lunch with a very handsome gentleman a few weeks ago. (there! I said it! I mentioned him!)

You know I love my hot dogs, but these were no ordinary hot dogs. These hot dogs? These hot dogs were WRAPPED IN BACON!!

Things of Note

1. There is a rotten banana on the top shelf of my desk, which is surrounded by several other desks, that other people use. I should probably remove it. I keep telling myself I'm going to make banana bread, but I don't have a pan, ingredients, or an oven anywhere near my desk.

2. I took an eight-hour exam on Saturday. I lost the admission slip, which wasn't actually required for admission, but posted a start time of 7:40 am. I thought we had to be there at 7:45 and start at 8. I was wrong. I am 1000000000 times lucky that they still let me take the exam. I won't know until July if I passed, but I passed. I'm glad I spent the week before the exam flipping out instead of studying, because if I'd studied any more, I would have left the exam feeling like I wasted my time. Thanks, Education.

3. I dropped a class today. It is officially senior spring. I also bought a new hoodie because my old hoodie looked like I'd worn it to roll through a mud puddle. Has anyone seen my Prada flats? Because they'd look really nice with a mud puddle hoodie. Who am I??

4. Hybrid's new name is Molly. Don't ask questions. Only 3 weeks to comp. PSYCHED.

That is all. For now.

Complaint Letter

Dear Miss C.J. Lee,

We have been friends for about two years now and I greatly value you and your friendship. That said, your behavior today was bordering on just plain mean. I appreciate the sentiment behind gift-giving, but I think that presenting me with a raw egg showed perhaps a lack of judgment.

The messenger who presented me with the aforementioned egg had no part in this exchange, so I couldn't request that she please return it to you, as that would have been rude and she would have needed to hold it through our lunch date anyway. I, with some hesitation and a shake test to confirm the raw status of the egg, accepted and placed the egg in my jacket pocket in the hopes that I could eat my lunch quickly and put the egg safely back into my desk until I could get it to a refrigerator or frying pan. At the termination of my lunch hour, I retrieved a container to pack the leftovers of my lunch into, and when I sat back in my seat, I heard a pop. Your raw egg is now shells and goo on the inside of my jacket pocket. You can have it back, now.

Perhaps next time you could give me a hard boiled egg, or a puppy. Either of those would be more preferable options. Or maybe a pile of poop, as I would not feel guilty for discarding that. Please contact me for further discussion, as I would be disappointed to lose your friendship over a brief lapse in what I know is your usually very sound logic.

Thank you,

Allie

Culinary Misunderstanding

My dear, sweet Dalia-friend has been in Hanover for the last two weeks on spring break from Law School (poor girl...) and when I finally got back in town and got settled from the trauma of MY break (I'm not ready to permanently document that story, yet) we got dinner at Molly's.

They have a new Mediterranean pizza that I like to swallow whole. Pretty much my ideal food would be Kalamata olive-stuffed hot dogs wrapped in bacon. The pizza is good too, though. Dalia, however, had trouble with her Margherita pizza.

"I thought I ordered a pizza, not a salad."

I Guess I Have A Problem

Watch this video.

Cake is a true symbol of gluttony.

Finals Fall 07: The Postpartum

After my little run-in with the guardrail on RT-89, I needed an actual mental breather, so I went to Boston and had a romantic date with B, her loveseat, a jar of nutella, Love Actually, Newbury Street, and my credit card. First we went to Chinatown and got facials (B says this is exactly analogous to paying someone to wipe your butt...I totally agree...it was awesome) and giant bowls of pho. B's was twice the size of mine and she finished more of hers. I'm glad we're friends because she could probably mop the floor with me, if she wanted to. Then, we put lights on her tiny Christmas tree and did this: It was awesome. The only thing missing from that picture (besides me) is my cream soda cocktail. And every lit candle in her entire apartment. In the morning, B played hooky so that we could go for a session of Retail Therapy. My credit card still hurts, but it was SO worth it. We hit Betsey Johnson and Kate Spade. Hard. Then I gave B a hug and went back to Hanover.

And rather than do work when I got back, I went to Al Grande's dinner party. I domed myself on chips and salsa and we all watched movies and smack-talked each other until Al started reducing the balsamic vinegar for (I think) the chicken. It was totally delicious in the end but OH MY GOD my lungs haven't burned that badly since that time I tried a bong hit and choked so hard that I blew snot all over my own face. And I wasn't even in the kitchen. I cried for my inhaler. After dinner we all jumped in the hot tub, and in the snow, and back in the hot tub. And then we sat there until none of us could keep our eyes open any more. THAT is how you have a dinner party! Though his awesome Rambo knife was pretty appealing, too:

So then, I've left myself with 4 days to finish two problem sets, a final exam, two final projects, and present on the Hybrid to the Review Board.

It took me 6 days, but the presentation went surprisingly well, I aced the exam, and the problem sets happened (that's the important part...). By the time I got to the final projects, I was about two tacos short of a combo platter. But so was the rest of my electronics lab, so they still understood me when I started speaking Lobster. For instance, rather than just assume no one would touch his stuff, or put up a sign that said "Don't Touch," he taped this to his circuit:
If you look at that picture up close, that is a soldering iron, being operated at 850 degrees F, being stabbed into "your" eye. While "you" are sleeping. The part of the sign that was cut off said "If you touch..."

This is what my workstation looked like at 8 am on the day the project was due to be presented to the professor. Dublin Mudslide for breakfast; iTunes rockin'; dead electronic components everywhere. If you care, I made an operational amplifier out of discrete transistors, or at least I intended to. What I really made was just the first stage of said amplifier. Had I given myself three more days, I might have actually finished my project. If it were possible to jerry-write a final report, that is exactly what I did. I hand-wrote 5 pages, stapled printed attachments, made a photocopy and showed it to my friends who didn't believe that I actually submitted that crap for a grade. But the professor thought it was funny, or just felt sorry for me, and gave me an A-.

My other final project (and I'm not even kidding about this) was to drive around a circular course (of my choice - 8.3 miles) in my own car and measure how much gasoline I used each time. I did three runs each in both 2WD and 4WD, then compared my results to a computer simulation program, using my best estimate as to my speed vs. time during each lap (I tried real hard to keep it consistent) and using a cycling tool on Google maps to find the elevation profile of the course. It was two days late, but the professor loved it so much that he wants to use the concept to make an additional lab for the course in the next offering. He said it was the best project, by far, he'd received from the whole class, and if it weren't so late, and so disastrously put together, he'd give me an A; instead I got another A-.

And then? Then I celebrated. :) And not even by going to the gym...

Hell Froze Over

I beat Erin in finishing not one, or two, but THREE consecutive margaritas.She was, of course, the more coherent of us leaving the restaurant. Also, let it be known here that while calamari is fun, we are never again deviating from our normal appetizer of artichoke & spinach dip.

We later did an interpretive dance of how Hybrid Electric engines operate, to celebrate the fact that I'm now OK with the prospect of working on one for the next 8 months. It was pretty amazing, if I do say so myself. Perhaps I'll post a video someday.